The Warren Wildcats varsity girls' volleyball team is looking to continue their winning way into the Provincial AA Girls Volleyball Championship. The girls have won their last five contests and have not lost a single set in any of those games.

"We ended up finishing first in the round-robin (at the provincial qualifier), so we didn't have to play a playoff game," says head coach Tyler Oliver. "If you finish first in the round-robin, you automatically punch your ticket off to provincials."

Oliver says they've had a bit of a hot and cold season as a whole but he notes the girls are starting to peak when it matters most. The Wildcats finished the regular season ranked number seven in the province when it comes to AA teams, however, their head coach believes they have a real shot to come out on top.

"We started off really, really strong, and then we went through the doldrums of the middle of the season. We had some injuries and had some illnesses, so we dipped down a little bit," Oliver explains. "We definitely turned a corner in the last three or four weeks and started improving our play at the right time."

Oliver says the biggest focus for the team this year has been to be solid fundamentally.

"If we take care of the small details, the big details will take care of themselves," Oliver continues. "Our leadership is absolutely outstanding. We only have three Grade 12's on the team but their leadership is fabulous, and they keep everybody on task."

The Wildcats are a defensive-oriented team with some offensive firepower, according to Oliver.

"We have a couple of big swings at the net but we mostly built our team around defence. We do have a couple of kids that are very offensive but we have the mindset of, 'Defence wins championships.' So, we kind of built it around that, and the kids have all bought in."

Oliver believes Warren is poised to make a run for the provincial crown when the tournament begins on Thursday, December 1st, in The Pas.

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